


I Scream, You Scream

by clockworknobody



Series: Say Something [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Anxiety, Caring Magnus, Caring siblings, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Selective Mutism Alec, Therapy, self-deprecating thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 04:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17974286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockworknobody/pseuds/clockworknobody
Summary: A collection of related oneshots featuring the relationship between Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane.





	I Scream, You Scream

It's the summer before junior year, when Magnus Bane first meets Alec Lightwood and his siblings at an ice cream shop just outside of Manhattan.

"Hey," Magnus introduces himself. He reaches out a hand to the stunning raven-haired girl with bright red lips and finely shaped eyebrows. "I'm Magnus, a new employee."

"I'm Isabelle," the girl introduces shaking his hand. 

Magnus turns with his hand outstretched to the blond-haired boy in the middle. 

"Jace," the boy greets, giving a quick, firm shake. 

When Magnus turns to the boy on the far right, who is significantly taller than the other two, the boy named Jace quickly says, "That's Alec." Magnus wonders why Alec doesn't introduce himself, but he decides not to say anything about it. 

Alec does not return Magnus's outstretched hand. 

Looking at the three of them, it's obvious to see that Isabelle and Alec are related. They have the same black hair, intense eyes, and thick eyebrows. Magnus notices that Isabelle is wearing killer high-heels, which amuses him. 

"Nice to meet you three," Magnus concludes. As Isabelle and Jace begin to chatter about the job requirements, Magnus finds his attention drawn to the awkward boy who is now shifting nervously where he's standing. 

"So... how long have you guys worked here?" Magnus asked, following Jace and Isabelle to the back part of the shop. 

"This is actually Izzy's first year here," Jace responds. "Alec and I are going to be juniors when school starts up again—Izzy's going to be a sophomore."

Magnus turns. "You're going to be a junior? Me, too!" He cocks his head to the side, studying Alec. "You don't go to Alicante, do you?"

"All of us do." This time, it's Isabelle who answers. She's holding an apron in one hand a dark blue baseball cap. Both have the ice cream shop's logo on them. 

"You're kidding." Magnus is shocked. "I've never seen you guys there."

"Well, Iz is younger," Jace explains. "And Alec's quiet."

 _That's_ _putting_ _it_ _mildly,_ Magnus thinks. He has yet to hear the older boy speak. 

"Well, nice to meet you again," Magnus says. "Sorry I didn't know who you were."

Alec gives no indication that he heard Magnus—he barely makes eye contact with him. 

Magnus puts the apron on over his head, wondering what he did or said to Alec to make him ignore him. 

 

***

 

The thing Alec admires most about Magnus is his ability to talk endlessly about nothing. On a slow day, he goes from talking about his cat, Chairman Meow, to talking about how to tell a quality litter box from a regular one, cat toys, yarn, how much he actually enjoys knitting, to fashion in the span of ten minutes. Alec's pretty sure he's never said as many words in his entire life as Magnus has just said right now.

Alec can't help watching Magnus's mouth as he speaks. The words seem to come so easily for him, like a never-ending stream of sound. It obviously doesn't matter to Magnus that he's only just met the Lightwoods a week ago, if the way he treats them is anything to go by. 

As Magnus begins raving about _A Star is Born_  (the version with Judy Garland), Alec finds himself wishing that the words that came so easily for Magnus came as easily for him as well. 

 

***

 

The thing Magnus admires the most about the Lightwoods is the way they have perfected the art of communicating without speaking. Isabelle and Jace greet customers as they walk through the door. Customers tell them what flavor of ice cream or smoothie they want, and Alec gets it wordlessly. He hands it off to Magnus, who rings it up for the customer and sends them off with a charming smile and a "Hope to see you back soon!" All of it works like a well-oiled machine.

"What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?" Magnus asks once when he catches Alec staring longingly at the bucket of mint chocolate chip. 

"Strawberry," Isabelle answers immediately, "but I also really like vanilla with hardened chocolate on top. Oh, lemon is also good depending on what mood I'm in..."

Magnus wants to ask Alec directly what his favorite flavor of ice cream is, but Magnus knows he won't get a reply. So instead, he launches into a slightly exaggerated story about the time when he was really young and tried to give ice cream to a feral cat. 

 

***

 

Alec is in the bathroom when Magnus leans over to Isabelle and asks her if he's done something to offend him. Isabelle and Jace look at each other like they want to argue with each other, and Magnus can't help but keep talking.

"Whatever I said or did, I was probably just in a bad mood," he says. "I had a really tough breakup a year or so ago, and life at home was... well, nothing to be proud of. Not that that's any excuse, or anything, but—"

"You didn't say anything to Alec," Jace interrupts. Magnus waits for Jace to elaborate on the sentence, but he doesn't. 

"Oh," Magnus responds. "Well, good." A slightly awkward silence falls over them, broken only by the sound of the bathroom door opening. 

Alec walks out and when he notices the three of them looking at him, his eyes shift back and forth anxiously between Isabelle and Jace. A couple times, they flit anxiously over to Magnus, but his gaze never stay on him for long. 

"Here comes some more customers," Jace says, and a second later, the bell above the door jangles. 

Jace greets them with a cheerful "Hello!" as they all get into their positions. Magnus finds that he can't take his eyes off of Alec. 

 

***

 

Alec knows logically he shouldn't be so nervous about talking to Magnus. He tells himself that Magnus is a good guy with a quick sense of humor and an endless amount of amusing anecdotes. But despite his inner voice telling him this, his mouth only opens every once in a while to slip in some free ice cream after the shop is closed.

And even though Alec knows that, for some reason, he likes being around Magnus and is glad that he started working at the ice cream store, he can't help but be grateful every time the workday is over so he can go home and stop feeling so anxious. 

**Author's Note:**

> I had selective mutism from kindergarten to second grade, and I've luckily grown out of it. Selective mutism is more than just being shy—someone with selective mutism cannot physically speak when put in a social situation that makes them anxious.


End file.
